The riots that occurred in Watts in 1965 left the community without stable and reliable restaurants and other food establishments. As this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Watt’s Riots, the community continues to rebuild and grow. One of those things growing is a farmer’s market, an exciting solution for healthy foods in the Watts community. Check out this video below to see how health educators bring a fresh new perspective to food options in Watts

This article was produced for Watts Revisited, a multimedia project launched by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism that explores challenges facing South L.A. as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Watts Riots. Learn more at www.wattsrevisited.com.

Jay Davis stands in front of his class at Augustus Hawkins High School. | Photo by Anna-Cat Brigida

When Jay Davis talks to his students about the 1965 riots, which broke out all around his South L.A. campus, he wants to make sure it is not just a history lesson. Instead, he pushes his students to use the images to talk about the history, understand the factors that provoked rioting and decide what role they would play in history. [Read more…]

This article was produced for Watts Revisited, a multimedia project launched by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism that explores challenges facing South L.A. as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Watts Riots. Learn more at www.wattsrevisited.com.

Juana Lopez had to move because her son Anthony was sick from asthma and the administrator of the building where she lived did not pay attention to her complaints.

The dust on the tables and carpet never worries Juana López, nor the condition of the paint on the walls of her home, even though her seven-year-old son Anthony Perez has suffered from asthma and allergies since 2013.

It was in a medical consultation where the doctor made it clear that there was a connection between the diseases and the environment around her child. “I did not know how to clean, or what products to use,” said Lopez, originally from Guerrero, Mexico.

The medical center referred López to the organization, Esperanza Community Housing. A health promoter said they urgently needed to change the carpet and repair areas where paint was falling off.

This article was produced for Watts Revisited, a multimedia project launched by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism that explores challenges facing South L.A. as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Watts Riots. Learn more at www.wattsrevisited.com.

David Williams, who works at Homeboy Industries, fills out paperwork to enroll in a seven-week construction course at Los Angeles Trade Tech College on Monday, April 1, 2015. The class is put on by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations in partnership with LATTC. | Photo by Maya Sugarman for KPCC

Last September, Abigail Flores arrived heartsick at the WorkSource Center, a work placement agency in South Central Los Angeles. She had spent at least seven months unemployed, depending upon public assistance to support her three young children.

“What I encountered here was beautiful. They helped me in everything. The work that they found for me was at a Dollar Tree shop. Then the hours were decreased. Once again they found me another job in a hamburger restaurant where I made minimum wage,” said Flores, a resident of South Los Angeles and a 34-year-old single mother. Her children are 6, 7, and 14 years old.

At the same time that Flores returned to the labor force, and to be able to provide for her family, the WorkSource Center, located inside LA Trade Tech College at Vernon-Central, began to provide her with training in the hotel industry.

With these new skills, Abigail will be able to make a transition to full-time work with a better salary and benefits. [Read more…]

This article was produced for Watts Revisited, a multimedia project launched by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism that explores challenges facing South L.A. as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Watts Riots. Learn more at www.wattsrevisited.com.

On a rainy Christmas Eve in 1988, South Los Angeles native Toni Bazley was on her way home from work when she noticed a mother with two children waiting at a bus stop. “It was close to 10 o’clock and I couldn’t just drive by the family without offering a ride to them. It was Christmas Eve and no one deserved to wait in the rain,” said Bazley. She remembered asking the woman if she wanted a ride home and pulled into the closest gas station to let the small family enter her 1981 Toyota Corolla hatchback.

Bazley continued southbound on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to make a right turn on Vermont. That is when her good deed took the wrong turn. “I got into a hit-and-run accident with a drunk driver on the intersection of Vermont and Florence. The driver slammed into me so hard that my car hit a pole and folded,” said Bazley. The mother and two children were unharmed, but Bazley suffered from head injuries. “I had a pretty huge gash on my forehead that was opening up. So, I had to be rushed to the closest emergency room, which was Martin Luther King hospital.” [Read more…]

This article was produced for Watts Revisited, a multimedia project launched by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism that explores challenges facing South L.A. as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Watts Riots. Learn more at www.wattsrevisited.com.

Barbara Stanton stands in front of a rendition of the Wattstar Theatre. | Photo by Gary McCarthy for LA Wave

For community stakeholders interested in transforming vacant lots, it may seem easier to clean up blighted areas than to change public opinion about the area of South Los Angeles widely known for its infamous riots. Yet, several community-based organizations are determined to do both.

Barbara J. Stanton grew up in a different kind of Watts, a place that had plenty of stores to shop along 103rd Street and a movie theatre before the riots or as locals call it – Watts Rebellion – broke out Aug. 11, 1965.

After the rioters looted and burned 600 buildings in Watts and neighboring communities, business owners were slow to return, if they did at all. The only movie theatre in town did not return.

For over 20 years, Stanton has been trying to bring a theatre back to the area but with a twist: featuring an educational and job training facility for those wishing to work behind the scenes in the entertainment industry. Her nonprofit organization, Watts Cinema and Education Center (WCEC), expects to hold a ground-breaking ceremony before September in a vacant lot on Graham Avenue next to a Metro Blue Line station. [Read more…]

Residents rally at the corner of 92nd and Bandera Street in South L.A. | Leah Harari

Fifty years ago, pent up frustration and racial tension became fuel for the Watts Riots, in which 34 people died. And on Thursday, union activists and Watts residents cited the 50th anniversary of the riots to express their frustration at how little attention their streets receive from the city.

A small crowd rallied at the corner of East 92nd and Bandera Streets, where since 2001, residents have been asking the city to install a stoplight. The intersection is across from a senior citizens apartment building and just a few blocks from 92nd Street Elementary School. [Read more…]

The respected pastor who helped put out fires of the 1992 riots now fosters religious dialogue at USC.

Cecil Murray gets settled in his USC office. | Jordyn Holman

Since late November, residents from South Los Angeles have been peacefully protesting courthouse decisions to not indict police officers in Missouri and New York who killed two young unarmed Black men in the line of duty.

For Rev. Dr. Cecil Murray, the former pastor of South L.A.’s First African Methodist Episcopal Church, the demonstrations in memory of Michael Brown and Eric Garner bring to mind L.A. protests of days gone by in that they aimed to shed light on the disconnect between police officers and the people they serve.